Legal support group Reprieve said Sliti had been sold for bounty to Pakistani soldiers in December 2001, then handed to US forces in January 2002 and “tortured” for four months in the Afghan city of Kandahar.

Sliti, 48, was transferred to Guantanamo in May 2002.

“This is a welcome day, if long overdue, and (Sliti) is looking forward to rebuilding his life and starting a family,” Reprieve attorney Cori Crider said in a statement.

“Let us hope that the dozens of other cleared men left in Gitmo will soon follow,” the lawyer added, referring to the prison.

The Pentagon said it was grateful to Slovakia and Georgia for their willingness to “support ongoing US efforts” to close Guantanamo Bay.

“The United States coordinated with the government of Slovakia to ensure these transfers took place consistent with appropriate security and humane treatment measures,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

Slovakia has already taken six Guantanamo prisoners, including three Uighurs.

A similar statement was released about the transfers to Georgia of Salah Mohammed Salih Al Dhabi, Abdel Ghalib Ahmad Hakim and Abdul Khaled al-Baydani.

“We are grateful to the Republic of Georgia for offering our client a new home where he can begin to rebuild his life after more than a decade in Guantanamo without charge or trial,” said the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represented Hakim.

CCR senior attorney Wells Dixon said his client’s resettlement serves as a reminder that “the remaining Yemeni men should be sent home or resettled without further delay.”

– ‘Pick up the pace’ –

CCR Yemen expert Ibraham Qatabi noted that Yemen’s Ambassador Adel Alsunaini and the Embassy of Yemen had provided assistance on the Yemeni prisoners’ case, and that the country has offered to receive or resettle its nationals remaining at Guantanamo.

Human Rights First said the transfer of prisoners signaled significant progress but stressed inmates need to be released at a quicker pace.

“The administration needs to move much more quickly to transfer detainees who have been unanimously cleared,” Human Rights First’s Raha Wala said.

In early November, a military official told AFP that about 15 detainees would be transferred over the winter. Six inmates are expected to go to Uruguay, and another four could be sent back to Afghanistan.